Asik has been a beast in every other part of his play though, including defence. I'll forgive him a couple fumbles. Also Asik is ok at getting chest or overhead passes, but those low bounce passes out of nowhere (I mean, it was a completely tricky no-look pass from Lin, I doubt he was expecting it) just bamboozle the poor Turk.
Harden is good but Lin is a PG and doesn't really need to emulate Harden's game. I think Lin will become an elite PG once he gets his mid range jumper and 3 point shot working and when the team gets a good big man finisher.
But Lin won't have a long career and won't be a successful PG playing all the time like Linsanity. When Lin gets his jumper going, his game would be more in the mold of somewhere between a Chris Paul and a Mike Conley which is what an elite and successful PG should look like.
I'm actually more impressed by Lin when he plays like he did tonight... good defence, controlling tempo, only driving when prudent, strong transition play... rather than flat out Linsanity which would end his career in no time flat.
Lin definitely should develop his jump shot and his off-the-ball skills. But his struggles this season have fundamentally involved him not being as aggressive as last season due to many different factors.
My bad my engrish sucks sometimes, you mean ONE of them needs to be on court at all times...I thought you meant they both need to be on at all times...My bad.
Honestly I thought Allen would have Harden's number like in the first game, but (with the exception of Lin's terrible 3-point shooting) the Rox backcourt have continued to be an incredibly dominant offensive duo. Harden has 31 on 13 FGA. MADNESS
lol i didn't even notice Lin's bad 3 point shooting. His rebounding was great. Memphis were eating them alive in the rebounding department and jeremy had some important rebound in the game. Pure hustle.
How does Lin have so few assists? Over the past couple games, his assists have dropped to that of Parsons/Delfino/Marcus and Harden's has gone up. Are they all playing off of Harden? Please don't bring up Asik's butter fingers either.
Hack-Asik. Jeremy creates a LOT of point-blank shots for his bigs, esp. Asik.
But teams foul Asik hard to send him to the line -- he had a reputation for being a terrible FT shooter (esp. in the clutch). Not true this season, though.
Also, Jeremy doesn't have great 3pt shooters around him either. Streaky, yeah. Consistent, no.
The secret to Harden's success if keeping the ball LOW as he drives to the hoop. Players reach in, thinking they can strip it, but end up getting whistled for the foul because Harden almost always gets the 50/50 calls at the rim.
I don't recommend Jeremy do this because he will NOT get the same calls Harden does. And his wingspan is a few inches shorter, too (harder to finish).
I'm gonna sound crusty but whatever. why do the announcers keep talking about TD like he's some awesome, super clutch player? He's not. He's improved and has been shooting really good but they talk about him like he's a candidate for 6th man of the year.
The ball looks better when it's in Lin's hands, not TD or Delfino.
This game's in the refrigerator! The door's closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jell-O is jiggling....
I scream Asik's name every game and it's not from pleasure! But anyway, Lin and Smith work so well together. If Smith ever gets more playing time with Lin, Lin will get 15+ assists easy nightly.
Take the night off, Jeremy. You could tell he was a bit gassed on offense from playing great help defense on Z-Bo -- including TWICE wrestling with him for loose balls.
Is anyone even aware that Patrick Patterso is out with a foot injury and that Terrence Jones got called up from the D-League, but has yet to play? lol
Jeremy was in the same situation as T-Jones back in GS... The only difference is that the fans had Jeremy's back by chanting his name and cheering for him whenever he checked in the games. Remember that? LOL Look how far he's come.
I think T-Jones should get more playing time though. I mean he was drafted 18th... that's legit and he has charisma to go with it.
I agree with what you're actually trying to say but the implementation is very difficult and not to mention that Marcus Morris and Greg Smith have been playing really well lately.
The only way for T-JO playing is by reducing Omer's or Parson's minutes
when will he ready?lol. I understand people with that kind of problem and I assume, he, himself must frustrated too, but it's been such long time already, if he still in that position and nothing improve, may be he might just leave the nba then.
pretty good game! 7 rockets with double digits points. Double for lin, not bad too. 2 minute left. If they slide away again with the bench I gonna be very mad.
beautiful! that's what happened when you have confidence and trust in lin and let him play the game be a pg and run the game and giving him time! see! another winning!!!
Jlin just needs to figure out if it's his breathing or what that's causing some of his shots to be way off. Other than that, JLin has another solid night.
Yep yep. Bring on the big boys. Killed the Knicks. Killed the Grizzlies, although they just had a game yesterday and maybe kinda tired. OKC and Spurs need to be slayed next.
if they can win one game against OKC and heat, it will be even better. Okc is better than the heat, to me. so I want them to win a game against OKC more.
Sorry about that. Original comment below. I wanted to fix a wrong word, but should have just made the correction in the comments:
Good on McHale to leave Lin in long enough in the 4Q to build up his stat line, but not too long to overplay him in a blow-out.
Fewer points by Lin tonight, but that doesn't bother me. 15 points is respectable and not a drag on his PPG. While Lin has good scoring ability, he's always preferred to score as much as he needs to, not as much as he can - Nash-like.
Lin played his game at PG, relaxed and intuitive. It's about the PG touches for Lin, not scoring chances - though scoring chances are included with PG touches - and Lin got his PG touches tonight.
As others have said, this kind of game from Lin is more satisfying than Linsanity-style games in one respect - Lin put his stamp on the game with a sustainable pace of play, whereas Linsanity all the time will burn out Lin and should be unleashed for special occasions only.
That's 3 games in a row now the Rockets have passed the Woodson test in terms of using Lin reasonably with Harden. It looks like we've turned a corner.
I said I just wanted THREE straight games with Lin allowed to play PG. And that's what we got. Hopefully, this continues. Harden was so hot that Jeremy ceded significant ballhandling duties tonight, which I'm okay with against CERTAIN opponents like the Grizzlies.
But I agree that McHale "rewarded" Jeremy by playing him in the 4th while sitting Harden. It's like McHale was saying: "Thanks for focusing on defense and letting James be the hero. Now go pad your stats!"
FYI, I took out "and properly" in the last paragraph because there's still plenty more room for the Lin/Harden combo to grow. I first said 'properly', then decided 'reasonably' is what I meant, then left both adverbs in the sentence in error. Then I thought to delete and re-post without realizing folks were already commenting.
Racha,
Agreed, it would be nice if Lin shot 3s better, but we've known him as a streaky outside shooter his whole career. At his Linsanity height, he was a streaky outside shooter. Consistency shooting deep is a long-term goal, but not a primary category I'm going to judge him on. I still expect him to hit the clutch 3s, though.
Whatever Woodson may or may not feel about Lin, he used Lin well. Most importantly, he provided Lin's next employer a working model for using Lin as an above-average NBA starting PG at a lower gear than Linsanity but also a higher gear than Chalmerized role player.
Many Lin fans never forgave Woodson for not riding Lin like freakin' Secretariat, but I saw Woodson helping Lin lay a foundation for a sustainable career as at least a border-line all-star PG.
Citing Lin's record for Woodson has been the best response to NBA fans highlighting Lin's subpar production for the Rockets this season as evidence that Lin is either Linsanity or bust. That's not true because Woodson already showed there's a 3rd way to use Lin at a high level.
The Rockets signed Linsanity but after the Harden trade, they should have been able to fall back on the Woodson model for using Lin. Except they took the ball out of his hands and made him stand passively on the side, or sit on the bench. It took the Rockets a while - too long given the model was right there for them - but they're just now rediscovering Woodson-level usage for Lin.
Keep in mind, I consider the Woodson bar a floor given that Lin is improved as a PG compared to the ultra-talented but rough-edged combo guard who played for Woodson. Lin would have been better this season if he had stayed a Knick, and he should be better as a Rocket than he was playing for Woodson, too. Instead, Lin's been worse through no fault of his own. He's just now returned to his level playing for Woodson.
As long as Lin's streaky 3 point shooting is an offset only to his slashing game, I can live with it. If it's the only or main way he's scoring, or the only way he's allowed to score, as earlier in the season, then his streaky outside shooting becomes a problem.
Like I said to Racha, though, Lin could go 0-10 from 3 in a game, all air balls and bricks, but when he has the ball in his hands with the clock running down and the game on the line, I still expect Lin to take and hit the game-winner whether it's from 3 or an and-1 at the basket.
Absolutely. Keep in mind guys - its not like JLins jumpers have gotten a lot worse all of a sudden.
Cant mention that often enough -> during his 1st Linsanity game against the Nets in february he bricked almost all pf his jumpers. He still scored 25! Days later Knicks fell behind in Toronto - JLin stepped up in 4th - tied the game and hit the 3pt game winner.
Remember the Lakers and Mavs game? How about his 3pt shooting in those games? JLin is simply a streaky shooter but I also noticed that the more comfortable he is, the more swag he has, when he doesnt seem to think or hesitate, he can make crazy ass shots. In fact - some of the longest 3pt shots Ive ever seen were made by Lin.
Heh as I predicted Rox would do just fine against Griz this time around as long as they keep to fast breaks and play good perimeter defense, JLin really don't have much to fear, took him all of 3mins in 1st quarter, then it was on.
Though he still needs to work on that jumper lol.
The current Rocket is much better than Griz, Harden and Lin is starting to gel, great offensive flow, not surprising since Lin is touching the ball A LOT MORE.
Griz looked like punching bags to me today. To be fair they are coming off a back to back vs Dallas, but imo I don't think it would have mattered.
- Disclaimer: I had to go out during the last few minutes of the game. Someone tell me what happened. I missed around 3 Lin assists.
- So Lin ends up with a pts/asts double double and 6 rebounds. But I'll start off with the bad. Lin's three point shooting today was bad. You can sometimes go 1-5 and be unlucky with the stroke but, no, Lin's 3-point misses were the type of misses that you know are going to miss pretty much from the moment the ball leaves his hand. He also passed up on a mismatch - it was just him vs Marc Gasol but the play ended up with a made shot so that's fine.
- The good though is that Lin played a "non-Linsanity" game. He was aggressive without necessarily risking his body. Part of this is probably coaching, but I thought it was prudent. When Lin did penetrate though, it was generally effective, although he was somewhat let down by Asik's poor finishing. It seems from the above that Lin had much better luck with Smith?
- Harden is a monster.
- I have to eat humble pie. I thought the Rox backcourt were badly matched against the Grizzlies but it turned out to be an excellent game. The Rox have a remarkable penchant for breaking down half-court teams that I have underestimated. MEM is not a particularly elite offensive team (Gay is overrated I think) but the Rox defence in the 3Q was really good. Everyone, not just Lin, played great help defence when needed.
- The coaching tonight was fantastic. It was clear they were going to let Conley get his penetrations, so long as the bigs didn't start getting in rhythm, it was fine. Tony Allen could shoot all he liked too. It worked very well. McHale did good tonight.
- Who would have expected the Rox to blow out both the Knicks AND the Grizzlies?
Lin's 3 assists could be the same PnR with Greg Smith. Amazingly well-executed but amazingly blown repeatedly by Memphis.
MEM just couldn't run with Houston tonight. When both starters and bench players play quite well, they will challenge all teams. They are very deep and the team chemistry is very unselfish. I love it!
I called the Knicks and Grizzlies losing before the games were played.
No elite max contract shotblockers means that the Hardliners can run wild in the midrange, even against elite teams like Memphis.
I could easily see a scrubby team with high powered shotblockers causing trouble for the Rockets. Toronto with Bargnani out was a team like that, and so is Milwaukee.
Yup. That's why they lost the first time. Harden tried to do it on his own. And choked.
Let Jeremy be the primary PG and they can absolutely beat the Thunder. Or anyone else. Maybe not in a 7-game series, but certainly a couple times in the regular season.
Wow Jeremy! I like Lin's line of tonight much more than his 38/7 ones. Let's face it, Lin doesn't and never has the scoring midset to always play the game like a Harden/Wade/Kobe and like his game against the Spurs nor he should do so as a PG. Even on his most aggressive nights, his midset is more like scoring only to attract the D, once he attracts the attention, he would happily pass it off. And that's exactly what a PG should think alike. If Lin can get his 3 point shot a bit better, he could have easily got 20/11 tonight which are prime CP3 numbers. Actually the 15/11 are exactly the prime Michael Ray numbers that KHuang so often compared to. :-p
This isn't the Celtics, though. He can't always be pass-first even though he'd like to be.
Jeremy makes 20 great passes every game and his teammates convert 7-8 (at best) for buckets/assists.
On a team like the Rockets, where backup Smith is the only reliable finisher, Jeremy is best used as an attacking 20-7 point guard not a Rondo 12-12 guy.
If his teammates (*cough* Asik/Parsons) even convert just 2/3 of his dishes instead of just 35 - 45% (ok I may be exaggerating here it may be higher) he'd have double doubles for every game he scores over 10, and be hailed as the next coming of John Stockton...But alas Asik can't catch low bounce passes, can't finish, etc...But Lin + Smith...Just awsomesauce...
Robin Lundberg @robinlundberg Jeremy Lin: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists... Clearly he is a fluke. 7:10 PM - 22 Dec 12
Ian O'Connor @Ian_OConnor Jeremy Lin 3rd straight big game. 15 pts, 11 ass, 6 rebs, 2 TOs in big win over Memphis. still needs to work on the 3-ball. 7:21 PM - 22 Dec 12
NetsDaily.com @NetsDaily Shocking that Jeremy Lin, 24, has actually improved after Knicks let him go. Didn't everyone in Knicks organization tell us he was a fluke? 7:28 PM - 22 Dec 12
who's the one in knicks organization telling them that lin was a fluke???? though, I like their praise on lin, but honestly, I think, they should stop bothering lin and the knicks. Should just purely praise lin without bring in the knicks once again! that's over like so long ago. I ll take the first ironic one and the second one!
The Knicks are like little kids throwing temper tantrums last night when they cant beat the Bulls. The Knicks are also turning the corner like JLin, but instead of going up they're going DOWN.
Lin still has a lot of fans in NYC and beyond fans, people paying attention.
However, that's not to say NYers are watching Rockets games. It goes to show how important stat lines are for establishing NBA rep outside a player's or his team's fan base. The fact is, people are not going to watch every league game every night. They'll read the box score and maybe read the recap and commentary.
We can tell other NBA fans that it's not Lin's fault, that the Harden trade threw his role out of whack and the Rockets have been tardy in defining Lin's new role with Harden. They'll believe the numbers, which have not been good.
A PG doesn't need to be a 20 PPG scorer to establish an elite rep, but he can't go 5/2/4 every night either.
Before the season started, we said Lin had to do two things. One, stay healthy to play the whole season and, more importantly, the post-season if the Rockets got there. Two, Lin had to put up starter-level numbers at PG. Team wins would be nice, too, since winning always shines a good light, but one and two were the priorities. Lin's been healthy so far. Now, hopefully, his averages will catch up to what they should have been from the beginning.
One thing I've noticed about Lin, and its probably why his teammates love him...
He'll keep feeding you even if you screw up.
Look at his repeated dishes to Parsons when he misses, he'll give it right back to him even in the same possession as long as he is open. Don't even tell me Parsons doesn't appreciate that. I've noticed the same for Asik, Delfino, Morris, even if they play selfish and don't pass to Lin sometimes.
But I've started to see Lin win them over and change that trend.
That's what makes him a great leader, he never gives up on you. He sacrefices his stat line doing this, but it elevates the team.
I call this "Linball", its why I love watching him play, he has finally found his groove it seems, play it within the system HIS WAY.
That wasnt any different back in NY. Anouncers noted regularly that all Knicks players ran and workded harder to get open. They knew they would get the ball from Lin.
Jeremy might only have 2 recorded steals in the stat sheet but those who watched the third quarter can appreciate how disruptive he was to get his quick hands on help-defense to help Houston pull away. I lost count if he managed to poke the ball 4-5 times leading to fast-breaks.
He completely disrupted MEM offensive rhythym. Even the announcers has grown to acknowledge his superb defense. These are not recorded in the boxscore but I'm glad these announcers have grown to appreciate them.
Gotta give Morris credit too. Morris did good work getting in position/not fouling - Randolph didn't get a single FT! (Interesting stat - Grizzlies have now lost 4 out of 5 games where Randolph gets zero FTA.)
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ReplyDeleteJeremy should settle for a jump shot whenever he's open instead of a 3. He's 1 for 5 now...
ReplyDeleteOmer "fumble fingers" Asik predictably fumbles a no-look pass from JLin under the basket.
ReplyDeleteAsik plays like he is wearing mittens.
I don't like it, Jeremy passing up a dozen open shots to feed Omer Asik who is a turnover machine in the low post. Just shoot it !!!
DeleteYeah, they have wayyyyyyyy more faith in his butterfingers than the rest of us...seriously.
DeleteAsik has been a beast in every other part of his play though, including defence. I'll forgive him a couple fumbles. Also Asik is ok at getting chest or overhead passes, but those low bounce passes out of nowhere (I mean, it was a completely tricky no-look pass from Lin, I doubt he was expecting it) just bamboozle the poor Turk.
DeleteLin missed a couple of jump shots so he is now gun shy again.
DeleteOn that one fast break, Lin had a big man on him, but was not confident attacking the bigger, slower man.
Epic defense from Jeremy. He's the one stopping Z-Bo, not any of the Houston bigs.
ReplyDeleteHis help defense is preventing Z-Bo from getting comfortable.
Good coaching from McHale to draw up that gameplan as well.
DeleteLin could have gone straight to the hoop a couple times, but he didn't.
ReplyDeleteHarden is a stud.
ReplyDeleteHe can score 25 points or more like it's nothing.
He is relentless attacking the basket and seeks to draw contact.
He is strong enough that he will either covert the basket or get free throws.
Harden is like a poor man's Lebron.
JLin needs to emulate Harden in terms of his offensive game.
Harden is going to make this team a 40+ win team for such a young, young team.
DeleteHarden is good but Lin is a PG and doesn't really need to emulate Harden's game. I think Lin will become an elite PG once he gets his mid range jumper and 3 point shot working and when the team gets a good big man finisher.
DeleteHarden's offensive game is basically how Lin played during Linsanity by attacking the rim and getting free throws.
DeleteThat's Lin's strength, which he has gone away from this year.
But Lin won't have a long career and won't be a successful PG playing all the time like Linsanity. When Lin gets his jumper going, his game would be more in the mold of somewhere between a Chris Paul and a Mike Conley which is what an elite and successful PG should look like.
DeleteI am agreeing with Cara SO HARD.
DeleteI'm actually more impressed by Lin when he plays like he did tonight... good defence, controlling tempo, only driving when prudent, strong transition play... rather than flat out Linsanity which would end his career in no time flat.
Lin definitely should develop his jump shot and his off-the-ball skills. But his struggles this season have fundamentally involved him not being as aggressive as last season due to many different factors.
Deletewow, now houston is playing defense too. If they continue into the season playing defense, they can be scary.
ReplyDeleteJlin needs to hog the ball a little and drive to the hoop to imporve his averages
ReplyDeleteMcHale seems to have realised that you need Harden and/or Lin on the court at all times.
ReplyDeleteExcept right now :D
DeleteWhat do you mean? Harden is on the court
DeleteOne thing I do notice is Harden seems to be having easier games with Lin in control...And he's doing more on D as a result.
DeleteHe's having another hawt night tho. Beast in 3Q so far.
Oh I mean Lin is not on court.
DeleteMy bad my engrish sucks sometimes, you mean ONE of them needs to be on court at all times...I thought you meant they both need to be on at all times...My bad.
DeleteNo worries mate! I could have been clearer :)
DeleteLin can get a triple double. needs only 4 more rebounds and 5 more assists. Let's go Jlin!
ReplyDeleteLOL NICE MOVE BY TD! AWESOME.
ReplyDeleteYep.
Deletehe'll stay in the game over Lin because of that shot too.
DeleteHonestly if Lin doesn't come back in the 4th the only reason for that is that it's slowly becoming a blow out...
DeleteIf MEM comes out in the 4th with its bench and the Rox bench extends the lead in those first few mins, the game might well be over.
3rd quarter JLin is a bit of shooting slump. it's ok as long as he plays good defense and rebound the ball.
ReplyDeleteThe Rox are swarming the post up man like locusts!
ReplyDeleteI'm really lovin the Roxs defense right now. Way to go and keep it up. 12 more minutes.
DeleteLmao, "Jayd bayless looks like Skip Bayless" hahaahahaha....
ReplyDeleteOMG they are destroying the grizzlies...Big 3Q for Houston. All kinds of confidence tonight.
ReplyDeleteTime to waive Asik and take the cap hit.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the actual game, it's kinda amazing how the Rockets are basically blowing out the "elite" Memphis Grizzlies.
ReplyDeleteAt least so far.
Honestly I thought Allen would have Harden's number like in the first game, but (with the exception of Lin's terrible 3-point shooting) the Rox backcourt have continued to be an incredibly dominant offensive duo. Harden has 31 on 13 FGA. MADNESS
DeleteGrizz is leading the league in points allowed per game
DeleteGriz streak 23 games w/o allowing 100 points -> ends tonight.
DeleteHarden is EXTREMELY EFFICIENT. He's special.
Delete@via another victim of Rockets lol
Deletelol i didn't even notice Lin's bad 3 point shooting. His rebounding was great. Memphis were eating them alive in the rebounding department and jeremy had some important rebound in the game. Pure hustle.
Deletethe rocket is starting to play like a team. Great flow and unselfish.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHow does Lin have so few assists? Over the past couple games, his assists have dropped to that of Parsons/Delfino/Marcus and Harden's has gone up. Are they all playing off of Harden? Please don't bring up Asik's butter fingers either.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's just plain old luck. Also Lin has been looking for his own shot a lot more, that might contribute?
DeleteI know...I just want him to get his assists up and continue to get his teammates involved while he looks for his too. I know he will.
DeleteHack-Asik. Jeremy creates a LOT of point-blank shots for his bigs, esp. Asik.
DeleteBut teams foul Asik hard to send him to the line -- he had a reputation for being a terrible FT shooter (esp. in the clutch). Not true this season, though.
Also, Jeremy doesn't have great 3pt shooters around him either. Streaky, yeah. Consistent, no.
I guess the secret is to let Lin play with Smith more haha
DeleteToo much passing the ball to Omar Asik, who invariably bumbles and fumbles it like a bar of wet soap?
DeleteThe secret to Harden's success if keeping the ball LOW as he drives to the hoop. Players reach in, thinking they can strip it, but end up getting whistled for the foul because Harden almost always gets the 50/50 calls at the rim.
ReplyDeleteI don't recommend Jeremy do this because he will NOT get the same calls Harden does. And his wingspan is a few inches shorter, too (harder to finish).
Morris is pretty good tonight. If only he could be more consistent!
ReplyDeleteJLin assist is climbing back up.
ReplyDeleteon the way to triple double...
Deletethe only thing i don't like about the current situation is there is only 8 player rotation.
ReplyDeleteLol delfino looks at morris: "hey is this ur man, damn there he goes"
ReplyDeleteYet another example of how Lin's best passes don't end up as assists. What a sweet swing out to a wiiiiide open Delfino
ReplyDeletewhat a waste.
Deletebeautiful dish by lin, c'mon go for the triple double!
ReplyDeleteLin would've had 10 assists already if people hit open 3s and Asik dunked.
ReplyDeletehttp://redking.typepad.com
He'd have 30 points if he didn't pass up so many open jumpshots and layups. But I guess he doesn't want that.
DeleteGame is over unless Griz pull a Clippers comeback ala 2012 playoffs...Ironically on Grizzlies...
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna sound crusty but whatever. why do the announcers keep talking about TD like he's some awesome, super clutch player? He's not. He's improved and has been shooting really good but they talk about him like he's a candidate for 6th man of the year.
ReplyDeleteThe ball looks better when it's in Lin's hands, not TD or Delfino.
This game's in the refrigerator! The door's closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jell-O is jiggling....
ReplyDeletePnR all night, Lin + Smith = pawned!!!
ReplyDeleteSo much for #1 defense...
HAHAHAHAHAHA AGAIN AND AGAIN!!!
Deleteyep.
DeleteJLin assist machine. Greg Smith rolling machine.
ReplyDeletedouble double!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pass from Lin to Greg Smith.
ReplyDeleteSee that Omar?
That's how you do it!
I scream Asik's name every game and it's not from pleasure!
DeleteBut anyway, Lin and Smith work so well together. If Smith ever gets more playing time with Lin, Lin will get 15+ assists easy nightly.
And Smith will be Tyson Chandler.
HAHAHA LOLOLOL
ReplyDeletedammit subbed already, oh well
DeleteLol Machado gets to play, garbage time!
ReplyDelete1st turnover of Machadoo?
ReplyDeleteLin to Smith ALL DAY.
ReplyDeleteTake the night off, Jeremy. You could tell he was a bit gassed on offense from playing great help defense on Z-Bo -- including TWICE wrestling with him for loose balls.
GREAT game. Just wish he made one more 3! Heh!
Is anyone even aware that Patrick Patterso is out with a foot injury and that Terrence Jones got called up from the D-League, but has yet to play? lol
ReplyDeleteJeremy was in the same situation as T-Jones back in GS... The only difference is that the fans had Jeremy's back by chanting his name and cheering for him whenever he checked in the games. Remember that? LOL Look how far he's come.
I think T-Jones should get more playing time though. I mean he was drafted 18th... that's legit and he has charisma to go with it.
I agree with what you're actually trying to say but the implementation is very difficult and not to mention that Marcus Morris and Greg Smith have been playing really well lately.
DeleteThe only way for T-JO playing is by reducing Omer's or Parson's minutes
I agree! why didn't T-jones got to play instead of machado?
DeleteStill too many forwards and center, Lydia.
DeleteLets do body count here
Currently in active roaster :
Omer Asik
Cole Aldrich
Greg Smith
Marcus Morris
Chandler Parson
Donatas Motiejunas
Terrence Jones
Inactive :
Patrick Patterson
Royce White
There are 9 forwards and centers with only 240 minutes available for the whole roaster. Not to mention that McHale have tendencies to go small
There is simply not enough minutes for everyone
what's up with Royce white. lol.
Delete@Lydia anxiety stuff, he isn't ready yet
Deletewhen will he ready?lol. I understand people with that kind of problem and I assume, he, himself must frustrated too, but it's been such long time already, if he still in that position and nothing improve, may be he might just leave the nba then.
Deletepretty good game! 7 rockets with double digits points. Double for lin, not bad too. 2 minute left. If they slide away again with the bench I gonna be very mad.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me but Machado runs like a midget, no pun intended. He legs are short and big behind.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally he looked to me like a shorter version of TD last year on Knicks...Running around out of control.
DeleteGive TD some credit he has improved a lot along side Lin.
I mean his body. Machado is 6'1 or 6'0 but he looks to have a disproportionate body. Very thick and short legs. Whatever, I'm just being stupid.
DeleteYeah, Machado does kind of run around a lot.
DeleteHaha yeah he does look like a midget now that you mention it :D
DeleteLol @ this convo...
Delete[Consult @Achondroplasiaphobia, he'll tell you about midgets.]
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ReplyDeleteHow is this thread related to Melo and Stat?
Deletenemo, is all over his mind again! don't bother him. he's trying to figuring that out too!
Delete@neph, see what you just did to nemo? he removed it!! you bad bad neph!!!
Deletebeautiful! that's what happened when you have confidence and trust in lin and let him play the game be a pg and run the game and giving him time! see! another winning!!!
ReplyDeleteJlin just needs to figure out if it's his breathing or what that's causing some of his shots to be way off. Other than that, JLin has another solid night.
Deletehe will figure out. now I am more confidence in the coach. I guess he finally got to see what lin can bring to the team.
DeleteBTW was that Machado's first NBA basket?
ReplyDeleteI think so.
Deletehaha...another good winning game for rockets!!awesome! not just win but win big!A 25 pts win!
ReplyDeleteYep yep. Bring on the big boys. Killed the Knicks. Killed the Grizzlies, although they just had a game yesterday and maybe kinda tired. OKC and Spurs need to be slayed next.
Deleteif they can win one game against OKC and heat, it will be even better. Okc is better than the heat, to me. so I want them to win a game against OKC more.
DeleteA Spurs win will definitely a testament to Houston's improved defense. Can't believe how quickly they are improving but I'm not complaining!
DeleteI'm sure there will be a bad game here and there for this young team but they are jelling very quickly.
@psalm234 true that but the spurs are kinda slipping lately. maybe age has caught up to the spurs.
DeleteMan, 4 more rebounds and Lin gets his first triple-double!
ReplyDeleteWith the fast pace Houston is playing, he'll get his first very soon! :)
Great win against Memphis although they played last night. A win is a win!
Oh well.
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ReplyDelete15 points doesn't bother me at all too but shooting percentage does. FG% was ok, 3 point FG% needs to improve some.
DeleteYes! Eric! everything you said is great and I agree! but then, as usual, I expect to see woodson and yes my expectation of you never fail!
DeleteGood analysis Eric.
Delete@Racha, I agree with you. If he's not going to score a lot, then he needs to be efficient.
I agree. Towards the end of the season, Lin will get more confidence in his shooting to average 18pts/10asts/6rebs.
DeleteWe just witnessed how well Greg Smith can give Lin double-double!
Sorry about that. Original comment below. I wanted to fix a wrong word, but should have just made the correction in the comments:
DeleteGood on McHale to leave Lin in long enough in the 4Q to build up his stat line, but not too long to overplay him in a blow-out.
Fewer points by Lin tonight, but that doesn't bother me. 15 points is respectable and not a drag on his PPG. While Lin has good scoring ability, he's always preferred to score as much as he needs to, not as much as he can - Nash-like.
Lin played his game at PG, relaxed and intuitive. It's about the PG touches for Lin, not scoring chances - though scoring chances are included with PG touches - and Lin got his PG touches tonight.
As others have said, this kind of game from Lin is more satisfying than Linsanity-style games in one respect - Lin put his stamp on the game with a sustainable pace of play, whereas Linsanity all the time will burn out Lin and should be unleashed for special occasions only.
That's 3 games in a row now the Rockets have passed the Woodson test in terms of using Lin reasonably with Harden. It looks like we've turned a corner.
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DeleteI said I just wanted THREE straight games with Lin allowed to play PG. And that's what we got. Hopefully, this continues. Harden was so hot that Jeremy ceded significant ballhandling duties tonight, which I'm okay with against CERTAIN opponents like the Grizzlies.
DeleteBut I agree that McHale "rewarded" Jeremy by playing him in the 4th while sitting Harden. It's like McHale was saying: "Thanks for focusing on defense and letting James be the hero. Now go pad your stats!"
FYI, I took out "and properly" in the last paragraph because there's still plenty more room for the Lin/Harden combo to grow. I first said 'properly', then decided 'reasonably' is what I meant, then left both adverbs in the sentence in error. Then I thought to delete and re-post without realizing folks were already commenting.
DeleteRacha,
Agreed, it would be nice if Lin shot 3s better, but we've known him as a streaky outside shooter his whole career. At his Linsanity height, he was a streaky outside shooter. Consistency shooting deep is a long-term goal, but not a primary category I'm going to judge him on. I still expect him to hit the clutch 3s, though.
Pfft, "woodson test".
DeleteConsidering that Woodson was instrumental in getting Lin kicked off the Knicks, that's another totally USELESS comparison by Eric.
Lin has a statline of 000000000 under Woodson this season.
Lydia,
DeleteWhatever Woodson may or may not feel about Lin, he used Lin well. Most importantly, he provided Lin's next employer a working model for using Lin as an above-average NBA starting PG at a lower gear than Linsanity but also a higher gear than Chalmerized role player.
Many Lin fans never forgave Woodson for not riding Lin like freakin' Secretariat, but I saw Woodson helping Lin lay a foundation for a sustainable career as at least a border-line all-star PG.
Citing Lin's record for Woodson has been the best response to NBA fans highlighting Lin's subpar production for the Rockets this season as evidence that Lin is either Linsanity or bust. That's not true because Woodson already showed there's a 3rd way to use Lin at a high level.
The Rockets signed Linsanity but after the Harden trade, they should have been able to fall back on the Woodson model for using Lin. Except they took the ball out of his hands and made him stand passively on the side, or sit on the bench. It took the Rockets a while - too long given the model was right there for them - but they're just now rediscovering Woodson-level usage for Lin.
Keep in mind, I consider the Woodson bar a floor given that Lin is improved as a PG compared to the ultra-talented but rough-edged combo guard who played for Woodson. Lin would have been better this season if he had stayed a Knick, and he should be better as a Rocket than he was playing for Woodson, too. Instead, Lin's been worse through no fault of his own. He's just now returned to his level playing for Woodson.
The climb should continue.
maybe maybe. i have nothing for woodson!
Deletek.smith,
DeleteAs long as Lin's streaky 3 point shooting is an offset only to his slashing game, I can live with it. If it's the only or main way he's scoring, or the only way he's allowed to score, as earlier in the season, then his streaky outside shooting becomes a problem.
Like I said to Racha, though, Lin could go 0-10 from 3 in a game, all air balls and bricks, but when he has the ball in his hands with the clock running down and the game on the line, I still expect Lin to take and hit the game-winner whether it's from 3 or an and-1 at the basket.
Absolutely. Keep in mind guys - its not like JLins jumpers have gotten a lot worse all of a sudden.
DeleteCant mention that often enough -> during his 1st Linsanity game against the Nets in february he bricked almost all pf his jumpers. He still scored 25! Days later Knicks fell behind in Toronto - JLin stepped up in 4th - tied the game and hit the 3pt game winner.
Remember the Lakers and Mavs game? How about his 3pt shooting in those games? JLin is simply a streaky shooter but I also noticed that the more comfortable he is, the more swag he has, when he doesnt seem to think or hesitate, he can make crazy ass shots. In fact - some of the longest 3pt shots Ive ever seen were made by Lin.
THREE straight great games for Jeremy. Still played off the ball regularly, too. Once he becomes a solid 3pt shooter? WATCH OUT.
ReplyDeleteEven without a reliable J, he's a borderline Top 5 PG talent -- look at every single game in which he's allowed to play PG.
- 38p/7a/2s/2b against the Spurs.
- 17p/8a/4r/2s against the Knicks, Sixers and Grizzlies. Sixers are above-average defensively. Grizzlies are elite defensively.
He baaaaaaack. Seriously, this time.
Heh as I predicted Rox would do just fine against Griz this time around as long as they keep to fast breaks and play good perimeter defense, JLin really don't have much to fear, took him all of 3mins in 1st quarter, then it was on.
ReplyDeleteThough he still needs to work on that jumper lol.
The current Rocket is much better than Griz, Harden and Lin is starting to gel, great offensive flow, not surprising since Lin is touching the ball A LOT MORE.
Griz looked like punching bags to me today. To be fair they are coming off a back to back vs Dallas, but imo I don't think it would have mattered.
Griz has not lost by +20 since they lost to Bulls last yr [by 40, the night ZBo got hurt].
DeleteHell yeah, that's what i'm talking about. Roxs broke Knicks 10-0 unblemished home record and now Grizzs. Way to go.
DeleteEND OF GAME THOUGHTS
ReplyDelete- Disclaimer: I had to go out during the last few minutes of the game. Someone tell me what happened. I missed around 3 Lin assists.
- So Lin ends up with a pts/asts double double and 6 rebounds. But I'll start off with the bad. Lin's three point shooting today was bad. You can sometimes go 1-5 and be unlucky with the stroke but, no, Lin's 3-point misses were the type of misses that you know are going to miss pretty much from the moment the ball leaves his hand. He also passed up on a mismatch - it was just him vs Marc Gasol but the play ended up with a made shot so that's fine.
- The good though is that Lin played a "non-Linsanity" game. He was aggressive without necessarily risking his body. Part of this is probably coaching, but I thought it was prudent. When Lin did penetrate though, it was generally effective, although he was somewhat let down by Asik's poor finishing. It seems from the above that Lin had much better luck with Smith?
- Harden is a monster.
- I have to eat humble pie. I thought the Rox backcourt were badly matched against the Grizzlies but it turned out to be an excellent game. The Rox have a remarkable penchant for breaking down half-court teams that I have underestimated. MEM is not a particularly elite offensive team (Gay is overrated I think) but the Rox defence in the 3Q was really good. Everyone, not just Lin, played great help defence when needed.
- The coaching tonight was fantastic. It was clear they were going to let Conley get his penetrations, so long as the bigs didn't start getting in rhythm, it was fine. Tony Allen could shoot all he liked too. It worked very well. McHale did good tonight.
- Who would have expected the Rox to blow out both the Knicks AND the Grizzlies?
3pt shooting was really bad...
DeleteLin's 3 assists could be the same PnR with Greg Smith. Amazingly well-executed but amazingly blown repeatedly by Memphis.
DeleteMEM just couldn't run with Houston tonight. When both starters and bench players play quite well, they will challenge all teams. They are very deep and the team chemistry is very unselfish. I love it!
The 3, or 2, assists were all JLin/Smith pick and rolls.
DeleteI think the other assist was to Morris for a 3. Cant recall.
Deletenow go on and beat the okc!!!! i am really look forward to this one.
DeleteMan if HOU beats OKC I'll go crazy lol
DeleteI called the Knicks and Grizzlies losing before the games were played.
DeleteNo elite max contract shotblockers means that the Hardliners can run wild in the midrange, even against elite teams like Memphis.
I could easily see a scrubby team with high powered shotblockers causing trouble for the Rockets. Toronto with Bargnani out was a team like that, and so is Milwaukee.
Yeah, yeah... rub it in lol
Delete@wifflewiffle...you'll go crazy?? You're the calmest one here. I'll go crazy.
Deletewe all crazy and throw up!
Delete@wiffle go crazy...haha let's see that!
DeleteThink about this - if you add the two with his foot on the line, his 3-ball avg was really 2/6 or 33%.
DeleteI wanna see harden and lin beat the OKC . I'm sure harden want a revenge so bad.lin has to help him out .
ReplyDeleteYup. That's why they lost the first time. Harden tried to do it on his own. And choked.
DeleteLet Jeremy be the primary PG and they can absolutely beat the Thunder. Or anyone else. Maybe not in a 7-game series, but certainly a couple times in the regular season.
Wow Jeremy! I like Lin's line of tonight much more than his 38/7 ones. Let's face it, Lin doesn't and never has the scoring midset to always play the game like a Harden/Wade/Kobe and like his game against the Spurs nor he should do so as a PG. Even on his most aggressive nights, his midset is more like scoring only to attract the D, once he attracts the attention, he would happily pass it off. And that's exactly what a PG should think alike. If Lin can get his 3 point shot a bit better, he could have easily got 20/11 tonight which are prime CP3 numbers. Actually the 15/11 are exactly the prime Michael Ray numbers that KHuang so often compared to. :-p
ReplyDeleteThis isn't the Celtics, though. He can't always be pass-first even though he'd like to be.
DeleteJeremy makes 20 great passes every game and his teammates convert 7-8 (at best) for buckets/assists.
On a team like the Rockets, where backup Smith is the only reliable finisher, Jeremy is best used as an attacking 20-7 point guard not a Rondo 12-12 guy.
If his teammates (*cough* Asik/Parsons) even convert just 2/3 of his dishes instead of just 35 - 45% (ok I may be exaggerating here it may be higher) he'd have double doubles for every game he scores over 10, and be hailed as the next coming of John Stockton...But alas Asik can't catch low bounce passes, can't finish, etc...But Lin + Smith...Just awsomesauce...
DeleteGreg Smith [on posterizing others]: "85% of the time, I'mana get you."
ReplyDeleteHa...I'mana get you.
DeleteMissed the game - highlights please :) the longer the better.
ReplyDelete[To tide you over while waiting]
DeleteJLin QB throw to Harden
THX :)
DeleteWOW - seems like they had more people in the Toyota center today.
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ReplyDeleteOut of NY~
DeleteRobin Lundberg @robinlundberg
Jeremy Lin: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists... Clearly he is a fluke.
7:10 PM - 22 Dec 12
Ian O'Connor @Ian_OConnor
Jeremy Lin 3rd straight big game. 15 pts, 11 ass, 6 rebs, 2 TOs in big win over Memphis. still needs to work on the 3-ball.
7:21 PM - 22 Dec 12
NetsDaily.com @NetsDaily
Shocking that Jeremy Lin, 24, has actually improved after Knicks let him go. Didn't everyone in Knicks organization tell us he was a fluke?
7:28 PM - 22 Dec 12
Yep yep. Our boy definitely has it going now.
Deletewho's the one in knicks organization telling them that lin was a fluke????
Deletethough, I like their praise on lin, but honestly, I think, they should stop bothering lin and the knicks. Should just purely praise lin without bring in the knicks once again! that's over like so long ago.
I ll take the first ironic one and the second one!
Lmao I love Lundberg's tweets, always calling other people's BS on Lin, so good.
DeleteThe Knicks are like little kids throwing temper tantrums last night when they cant beat the Bulls. The Knicks are also turning the corner like JLin, but instead of going up they're going DOWN.
DeleteLin still has a lot of fans in NYC and beyond fans, people paying attention.
DeleteHowever, that's not to say NYers are watching Rockets games. It goes to show how important stat lines are for establishing NBA rep outside a player's or his team's fan base. The fact is, people are not going to watch every league game every night. They'll read the box score and maybe read the recap and commentary.
We can tell other NBA fans that it's not Lin's fault, that the Harden trade threw his role out of whack and the Rockets have been tardy in defining Lin's new role with Harden. They'll believe the numbers, which have not been good.
A PG doesn't need to be a 20 PPG scorer to establish an elite rep, but he can't go 5/2/4 every night either.
Before the season started, we said Lin had to do two things. One, stay healthy to play the whole season and, more importantly, the post-season if the Rockets got there. Two, Lin had to put up starter-level numbers at PG. Team wins would be nice, too, since winning always shines a good light, but one and two were the priorities. Lin's been healthy so far. Now, hopefully, his averages will catch up to what they should have been from the beginning.
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ReplyDeleteOne thing I've noticed about Lin, and its probably why his teammates love him...
ReplyDeleteHe'll keep feeding you even if you screw up.
Look at his repeated dishes to Parsons when he misses, he'll give it right back to him even in the same possession as long as he is open. Don't even tell me Parsons doesn't appreciate that. I've noticed the same for Asik, Delfino, Morris, even if they play selfish and don't pass to Lin sometimes.
But I've started to see Lin win them over and change that trend.
That's what makes him a great leader, he never gives up on you. He sacrefices his stat line doing this, but it elevates the team.
I call this "Linball", its why I love watching him play, he has finally found his groove it seems, play it within the system HIS WAY.
What can you say, JLin is a pure and simple team kinda guy.
Deleteyeah, I've noticed that too. Novak said something similar last year.
DeleteSo true...
DeleteThey should change the name of the team from Houston Rockets to Houston Lins.
DeleteThat wasnt any different back in NY. Anouncers noted regularly that all Knicks players ran and workded harder to get open. They knew they would get the ball from Lin.
DeleteP.S.
DeleteI would rename them -> Houston HardLiners
That sounds better.
DeleteSince Lin left the Knicks, Novak doesn't play that well. Wonder why.
DeleteJeremy might only have 2 recorded steals in the stat sheet but those who watched the third quarter can appreciate how disruptive he was to get his quick hands on help-defense to help Houston pull away. I lost count if he managed to poke the ball 4-5 times leading to fast-breaks.
ReplyDeleteHe completely disrupted MEM offensive rhythym. Even the announcers has grown to acknowledge his superb defense. These are not recorded in the boxscore but I'm glad these announcers have grown to appreciate them.
Defense wins championships ... someday!
He sure helped out Morris plenty doubling up on Zbo.
DeleteGotta give Morris credit too. Morris did good work getting in position/not fouling - Randolph didn't get a single FT! (Interesting stat - Grizzlies have now lost 4 out of 5 games where Randolph gets zero FTA.)
DeleteTrue.
DeleteYes, Morris and Parsons also did a great job on Randolph and Gay. Excellent team effort on defense! Let's hope it will continue.
DeleteMcHale post game vs Griz - 12/22/12
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Deleteguys, new thread.
ReplyDelete